Exploring relationships between avian biodiversity and greenhouse gas flux in Canadian Prairie wetlands

We are experiencing a dual global crisis: climate change and biodiversity loss. Wetland protection and restoration have been considered to both enhance carbon (C) sequestration and support greater biodiversity. Yet a trade-off may exist between wetland biodiversity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that limit C sequestration, because wetland plant productivity that supports greater biodiversity may also fuel GHG emissions, namely that of methane. To explore whether such a trade-off exists, we surveyed wetland avian diversity, GHG emissions, and emergent vegetation density in wetlands of the Canadian Prairie Pothole Region. Rates of GHG emissions from aquatic habitats surveyed from 2021 to 2023 were compared with species richness detected with autonomous recording units. We combined these approaches with estimates of emergent macrophyte (EM) biomass derived from ground-based surveys and high-resolution UAV imagery scaled to the entire wetland using machine learning and cluster analysis. Overall, wetlands that supported greater avian species richness tended to have lower rates of carbon dioxide emissions and were uncorrelated with methane emissions.These findings suggest that efforts to protect wetlands for the purpose of biodiversity preservation may not engender trade-offs in the carbon sequestration benefits from these systems.

Primary Presenter: Samuel Woodman, University of Lethbridge (samuel.woodman@uleth.ca)

Authors:

Samuel Woodman, University of Lethbridge  (samuel.woodman@uleth.ca)

Lauren Bortolotti, Ducks Unlimited Canada  (l_bortolotti@ducks.ca)

James Paterson, Ducks Unlimited Canada  (j_paterson@ducks.ca)

Pascal Badiou, Ducks Unlimited Canada  (p_badiou@ducks.ca)

Laura Logozzo, University of Lethbridge  (laura.logozzo@uleth.ca)

Paige Kowal, Ducks Unlimited Canada  (p_kowal@ducks.ca)

Matthew Bogard, University of Lethbridge  (matthew.bogard@uleth.ca)